Shielded connecter



Patented Oct. 12,- 1937 UNITED s'lxa'rssy PATENT OFFICE SHIELDEDCONNECT@ 'll'neodore B. Holliday and Raymond K. Stout,

Dayton, Ohio Application May 8, 1935, Serial No. 20,40G

3 Claims.-

(Granted under theact of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3700. G. 757) The invention described herein maybe manuof plugs and theother a plurality of complemen- 15 tary sockets, said shell membersbeing relatively rotatable so that one may be screwed into the other,and one of them being rotatable relative to the circuit making contactmembers enclosed within it. m l

0 In accordance with a further feature of the invention the socketmember comprises a block having shouldered recesses each -for receivinga conductive socket member through the rear end thereof. Each conductivesocket is shouldered at 95 the rear end and provision is made ofaslotted retaining plate removably mounted on the rear end of the blockand adapted to overlie the sho,u1 dered ends of all of the conductivesockets to retain them in place.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention,v each of theconductive socket members is adapted to have a conductive wire solderedto the rear exposed end thereof and is formed to 35 facilitate thesecurement of a iish wire tothe forward end of the socket member, thearrangement being such that a socket member may be soldered to theappropriate wire, then pulled through an electrical conduit,andthenvassem- 40 bled with the other socket members in the socket block.

In accordance with a` further feature of the invention, the blockassembly comprises a plurality oi terminal posts set in a commoninsulating base 45 member and each having secured to it a jack or stemformed of a piece of. resilient vsheet metal,-

having a central body portion and radial arms the arms beingfolded tcbring their ends together and having their ends received in a recess v50of the terminal post, so that they form resilient Vslightly bulgingsides for the jack or stem of which they form a part.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear. l 55 In thedrawings forming part of this speeltication and illustrating certainpreferred embodi-J ments of the invention,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in a side elevation of a completelyassembled plug embodying 1 features of the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the plug of Figure 1, the two unitsbeing shown separated slightly one from the other;

Figure 3 is a. view in elevation of the socket' block and of theretaining plate, the latter being shown in a position ready to beslipped into place on the socket block; f

Figure 4 is a view in rear elevation showing the retaining plate appliedto the socket block;

Figure 5 is a view in front yelevation of the jack 15 assembly;

Figure 6 isa view in front `elevation of the socket block with thesocket members shown in place;

Figure 7 is a disassembled view in sectional side au elevation showingthe parts forming the socket assembly; and

Figure 8 is a view in sectional elevation illustrating a modiedembodiment of the invention.

The plug is composed of two principal units, as seen in Figure 2,namely,'a jack unit l and a socket unit 2.

The jack unit comprises a base block 3 of suitable insulating materialsuch as "Bakelite and a shell member 4 which may be desirably made of 30aluminum. The jack unit may be attached to the junction or other box bymeans of screws 5, which extend through ears 6 formed on the shell baseand through holes in the base 3. The base 3 is provided with a number ofpassages l through 35 it for `receiving the shanks 8 of terminal posts9. Nuts l0 are threaded on the outerends of the terminal posts 9 forclamping conductive terminal members Il of wires l2 to the respectiveposts.

Each terminal post includes an enlarged head 40 I3, and each head isprovided with an abutment shoulder M for engaging the inner face of thebase plate 3. Each head I3 hasa cylindrical res cess formed in theforward face thereof for recaving a jack as. Each jack is soldered inthe recess of one of the base heads I3. Each jack is made of sheetmetal. and comprises a tip Portion It and bulging arms I1.l The arms il,which inltially extend `radially from the portion I3 are folded downinto substantial parallelism and conjointly form the resilient bochr ofthe jack. The ends of the arms l1, remote from the head I6 are insertedin the recess of one of the terminal post .base heads vl 3 and solderedin place.

sneu member 4 is provided with an internal 55 allel slots 39.

thread I8 for coacting with an external thread I9 formed on a shellmember 20, the latter shell member forming the housing member of thesocket unit. 'I'he shell member 2U is cylindrical in form and isprovided at the rear end thereof with an internal annular shoulder 2|. Abushing 22 has an external flange 23 thereof disposed within the shell20 against the shoulder 2|, and the body of the bushing projects outwardthrough an opening in the rear end of the shell. A cylindrical spacersleeve 24 of insulating material is set in the shell against the flange23 of the bushing 22. A socket assembly 25, which will be described in,detail presently, is set in the shell against the spacer sleeve 24, andthe elements are retained in place by means of a resilient splitretaining ring or wire 21 which is snapped into a groove 21a formed inthe shell 20, adjacent the mouth thereof. The described parts may bereadily taken out of the shell for inspection, repair or replacement byrst removing the retaining ring 21.

The socket assembly 25 comprises a cylindrical socket block 26 which isfree to rotate relative to the shell 2|). bores 28 extending through it,each bore being reduced in size at its forward end to provide arearwardly facing annular shoulder 29. The socket bores correspond innumber and position to the jacks or pins of the jack assembly. Ametallic socket member `30 may be inserted in each bore 28 through therear of the socket block 26. Each socket member 30 engages at itsforward end against the shoulder 29 of the bore in which it is inserted,and each socket member 30 is provided with a bore 3| in axial alignmentwith the reduced forward portion of the bore in the block. Each socketmember 30 has a. reduced rear end portion 32 and is provided with anabrupt annular shoulder 33 surrounding such reduced portion. 'Iheshoulders 33 stand substantially flush with the rear face of the socketblock 26, and the reduced portions 32 protrude beyond the rear face ofthe socket block. Each of the reduced portions 32 has a central, axialrecess 34 formed in it, in which an electric Wire may be soldered. 'I'hesockets 30 are all held in place in the socket block by means of aretaining plate 35 and a retaining screw 36. The retaining screw 36 isthreaded into a bushing 31 which is fixed in a' recess 38 of the socketblock.

'I'he retaining plate 35 is formed of insulating materialand is providedwith a plurality of par- It will be observed that the ends of thesockets, which protrude beyond the rear face of the socket block, arearranged in parallel rows and that the retaining screw 36 is in linewith the central row. Each slot of the retaining plate 35 is, therefore,adapted to receive a plurality of the protruding members 32 and tooverlie the shoulders of a plurality of the socket members 30 to retainthe socket members in place. The central slot also receives the shank ofthe screw at4 the end of the slot remote from the base of the slot, andmay be clamped down firmly against the back of the socket block byrotation of the screw. 'Ihe arrangement makes possible` quick andeconomical of the parts.

.The fact that the socket members may be readily put in place throughthe rear of the socket block and then retained by the plate 35 has thefurther important advantage that the Wires do not have to be soldered tothe socket members after the socket members have been assembled in theblock. Each socket member 30 may beinassembly and disassembly The socketblock has a plurality of dividually soldered to its wire, then drawnthrough a conduit which is coupled to the bushing 22, then put in placein the socket block and retained by the plate 35. To facilitate thepulling of a socket member, together with its attached wire, through aconduit by means of a fish wire, each socket member has a pair ofdiametrically aligned openings 40 formed in the wall thereof near itsforward end. The sh wire may be passed through these openings forattaching it temporarily to the socket.

Suitable indicia, not shown, are desirably provided upon the face of thesocket block 26 and upon the individual sockets 30 to assure correctassembly. Similar indicia are provided on the outer face of the baseplate 3 of the jack unit to facilitate the connection of the wires tothe the bores of the socket block before any relative4 rotation of theshell members 4 and 20 occurs. Thus the jacks are properly located withreference to their sockets and hold the socket block 26 against rotationas the shell 20 is rotated to screw it into the shell 4. 'I'he screwingtogether of the shell members forces the resilient jacks into thesockets 3| of the socket members 30, and causes good electricalconnections to be made.

, If desired, a dummy post or guide pin 4| may be provided upon the base3 for entering one of the bores 28 of the socket block, and thisparticular bore may be left empty for cooperating with the guide pin.The guide pin 4| is preferably a little longer than the jacks, is largeenough in diameter to fill the forward end of the bore 28 with which itcooperates, and is rounded on the end so as to facilitate its entry intothe cooperating bore. The guide pin relieves the jacks of the necessityof resisting relative rotation of the jack unit and the socket block.

Ihe manner in which the parts of the socket unit may be quickly andcompletely disassembled is particularly well illustrated in Fig. '7. Inthis figure the retaining ring 21' has been removed from the groove 21a.'I'he socket block 26 has been withdrawn from the shell 2|). 'I'heretaining plate 35 has been withdrawn from the socket block 26. One ofthe socket members 30 is shown as partially withdrawn from the socketblock, and all are free to be withdrawn. The spacer sleeve 24 is shownwithdrawn from the shell 20, and the bushing 22, which is the only partremaining in the shell, can be readily Withdrawn or merely dropped outof the shell by turning the shell open end downward.

In Fig. 8 a modified form of connecter is shown. This connecter isgenerally similar to the connecter of Figures 1 to 7 and correspondingreference numerals, with the subscript a added, have accordingly beenapplied to corresponding parts. The parts thus numbered will not beagain described. 'I'his form diiers from the form of Figures 1 to 7, inthe fact that an elbow 42 is rotatably mounted upon la reduced endportion 20h of a shell 20a. Thesocket block 26a is provided with ashouldered retaining post 36a in place of the screw 36 of Figure 2, andthis post .s lsituated centrally of the socket block. The

post 36a is, itself, provided with an axial threaded bore 36h, and ascrew I3 which passes throughla wall of the elbow 42 in alignment withaxis of the shell 20a is threaded into. the bore 36D and serves both toretain the elbow 42 in association with the shell 20a and to retain thesocket block 26a in its proper location in the shell 20a. The spacersleeve 24 and the retaining ring 21 of Figures 1 to 7 are dispensedwith. The retaining `plate 35a of Figure 8 is caused .to bear againstthe shoulder '21a of the shell 2M, and hence is pressed around socketblock 26a.

'I'he use `of a guide pin as described in connection with Figures l to'I ls not a necessary feature, particularly where a large number of'lacks is employed, and hence the form of Figure 8 has been illustratedas not including a guide pin. n

The elbow 42 is-shown as provided with the union coupling 44 on theouter end thereof.

We have described what we believe to be the preferred embodiments of ourinvention. We do not wish, however, to be confined to the embodimentsshownbut what we desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in theappended claims. 1. In an electrical connecter, a socket unit,comprising a shell member, a socket block therein, a plurality ofconductive socket members set in the socket blockfrom the rear and eachhaving a rearwardly facing shoulder and a reduced rear end portion, aretaining plate having parallel slots extending through its periphery,the reduced portions of the sockets being arranged in parallel rows sothat the retaining plate can be moved laterally into embracing relationto alLof said reduced portions, and means for securing the retainingplate to the back of the socket block.

-2. In an electrical'connecter. a socket unit, comprising a shellmember, a socket block therein, a plurality of conductive socket membersset in the socket block from the rear and each having a rearwardlyfacing shoulder and a reduced rear 'lend portion, a retaining platehaving parallel slots extending through its periphery, the reducedportions of the sockets being arranged in parallel rows so that theretaining plate can be moved laterally in embracing relation to all ofsaid reduced portions, and a screw threaded in the socket block andhaving its shank received in one of said slots and its head overlyingthe retaining platei for holding the retaining plate to the socket bloc3. In an electrical connecter, a socket unit, and a jack unit, saidunits comprising complementary cylindricalshell members adapted to bescrewed togetherfsald socket unit comprising a cylindrical socket blockfitting in the shell member of the socket unit, a plurality ofconductive socket members in` said block, a retaining plate overlyingthe socket members on the rear of the socket block, a headed memberextending axially of the socket block and having the head thereofdisposed over the retaining plate for holding the latter to the socketblock, an elbow mounted on the shell of the socket unit for rotationabout the common axis of the shell and the socket block of said unit,and a screw threaded axially into said headed member, for holding theelbow to the shell and the socket block in place.

THEoDoRE B.HoLLmAY. RAYMOND K. s'rou'r.

